6 Ways to Keep Your Facebook Contest on the Up and Up (so it Doesn’t Get Shut Down)

Almost everyone who has hosted a contest or promotion on Facebook has probably had questions — lots of them — about what they can and can’t do. Part of the confusion stems from the fact that while Facebook has very strict rules about what is okay and what isn’t, when it comes to running contests, they leave it up to their users to find the rules and follow them.

I hope this post will help you figure out what you need to know so that the odds of running a legal and successful contest are … ever in your favor!

1. Read Facebook’s guidelines. This sounds really obvious but most people don’t do it. Instead, they model their contests on what one of their favorite brands or local retailers has done. For example, they see a contest that says “Write a caption for this photo. The funniest entry will will win ______________” and they decide to do the same thing.

On the face of it, this seems like a simple contest, but if Facebook’s automated systems detect it, your Page could be banned or deleted. And if users report your contest or post as spam, or that it’s in violation of Facebook rules, you also risk being shut down.

Facebook doesn’t tell its users anywhere, “If you want to run a contest you must read these guidelines first.” Instead, they rely on app developers, and the agencies that work with brands, to design apps that meet the guidelines. If you don’t work with a developer or agency and your contest is DIY, you will save yourself a huge headache if you read and follow the guidelines (once you link, scroll down; promotion guidelines are in Section III).

2. Make sure your contest and prize are appropriate for your business.

Test something easy like a sweepstakes where the winner is randomly selected. Photo contests are always popular, and so are contests where you invite users to vote on the design of a product that they want you to make — like a t-shirt.

The reason that choosing the right contest format and prize qualify as “keeping it on the up and up” is that if your contest doesn’t seem appropriate, users may mark it as spam which means your page gets negative feedback and, voila, Facebook shuts down the contest.

Here’s an example: Let’s say you’re a restaurant with 1000 likes and your customers interact with your Page because they love getting recipes and hearing about special events that are happening at your restaurant. Then one day you decide to host a contest in which the prize is an iPad.

As the Page gets shared, some people might assume it’s spam and choose to “hide” it or “mark it as spam.” After all, why would a restaurant give away an iPad? Every time this happens your Page gets negative feedback.

The bottom line: People are wary of iPads, cruises and free hotel stays. If you’re a bakery, give away cupcakes. If you’re a spa, give away a facial. If you’re a car dealer, give away an oil change.

3. Use a third party app to run your contest (many of them are free or low cost to try).

Per Facebook’s guidelines (see #1 above) you must use a third party app in order to run a contest. Facebook does not allow businesses to use status updates to notify winners that they have won unless they also notify the winner via email, snailmail, telephone or, heck, telegraph. And in order to collect this data from entrants, you must use a third party app.

If Facebook sees that you have hosted a contest and notified the winner in defiance of the company’s policy, they can shut down your Page. Facebook requires this sort of notification to cut down on fraud and spam.

After you have notified the winner through a proper channel, then you are free to blast the announcement via Facebook. As I noted, there are lots of third party apps that are completely free so don’t let this deter you from using Facebook to promote your brand.

One thing to keep in mind as you “shop” for an app, look for one that your users can access via mobile. Why? That’s how an increasing number of people are accessing Facebook these days and you don’t want to leave mobile users out of your promotion.

4. Once your contest is running, watch out for “malicious” entries. Unfortunately there are always people who try to game the system. People with fake Facebook profiles can wreak havoc on a friendly contest.

How can you tell if your contest has been hacked? You might notice that one entry gets 1000 votes one day, while all the others get 12. This is a bright red flag! When you choose your third party contest app, make sure it has features that will prevent (or significantly reduce) fraud.

As an extra measure of safety, I always recommend drafting a set of rules that allow you, the business owner, to reserve the right to chose a winner using a panel of judges. That way, if you suspect that someone has found a loophole, you can avoid rewarding a cheater, which could upset your most loyal fans.

5. Be familiar with local/state/national or international laws. If your prize value is more than $5000 and you’re in certain states/regions, the prize may have to be bonded. In other words, you have to post a bond to ensure that the prize actually exists. This is a consumer protection law. Also under this “legal” umbrella, make sure you know the difference between a “sweepstakes” and a “lotto.” Why? Lottos are illegal. A lotto is defined as selling an entry to a contest.

You can’t tell users that for every dollar they spend they get additional entries (but you can give them additional entries for other non-monetary actions, such as inviting friends to the contest). You cannot add a PayPal button to your page and let your users purchase additional votes.

If you’re not sure about how to deal with this in your rules, a good start is to check out the legal verbiage that a big brand uses with contests. DON’T cut and paste their language, just use it as a guide and look at the types of protections they put in place. If possible, have an attorney review your rules when possible, it’s money well-spent.

6. If you’re going to host a contest, promote it the right way.

Buy ads against it; link to it in status updates; post pictures of the prize. You can even do a “Like gate” — have contest entrants Like your Page in order to have the entry form revealed. Just remember, the act of Liking a Page can’t automatically enter anyone into your contest.

In other words, don’t say, “Like This Page and You’re Automatically Entered to Win.” Facebook is a stickler about this and they will shut your contest and maybe even your Page if you do it. In this vein, don’t overdo the promotion. If every status is about your contest, people will turn away.

About Jim Belosic

Jim Belosic is the CEO of ShortStack, a self-service web app design tool that allows users to create custom Facebook apps for Facebook and external websites. Its interface provides small businesses, individuals, graphic designers, agencies, and corporations with the tools needed to build mini-websites within their Facebook pages that help drive user interaction and increase fan page likes.

http://twitter.com/davidrobbins_ David Robbins

Thanks Jim, this is super helpful – I’m just now trying to figure out a contest for a client and your post is well timed!

http://IsaacAWardell.com/ Isaac A Wardell

Totally agree! I wrote a post very similar to this one. It is amazing to me how many people don’t have any clue when it comes to Facebook promotions and contest. Thanks for the article!

http://www.shortstack.com/ Jim Belosic

Thanks for the positive feedback guys! And thanks for reading the post!

@ryanhamze

10/10! good advice for a lot of people out there… nobody knows the importance of reading the fineprint anymore

http://twitter.com/B_Kwong Brian Kwong

What third party app do you recommend? Anyone?

AnnexCore

Great Post! Thanks for the information.

http://www.facebook.com/jo.sanglen Jo Sanglen

woobox or wildfireapp

http://antoniocalero.com/ Antonio Calero

Woobox and Lujure offer a good range of options. Haven’t used Wildfireapp yet (thanks for the tip, Jo)

http://www.facebook.com/danasullivank Dana Sullivan Kilroy

ShortStack!

http://www.shortstack.com/ Jim Belosic

We’re always happy to help!

http://www.shortstack.com/ Jim Belosic

I’m biased but… ShortStack! Of course it depends on what you’re looking for but the great thing about ShortStack is our apps can be viewed and used via mobile (Facebook mobile currently does not support Facebook business apps so its a popular feature with our users). We also have external embed capabilities so you can use ShortStack apps on your website or blog. For more info check out http://www.shortstack.com

http://www.shortstack.com/ Jim Belosic

You are right and there’s important stuff in the fine print!

Alex B

Does anyone have data on how many business pages actually get banned or otherwise punished because of not following these contest rules? Enforcement has to be a problem for Facebook as there are probably hundreds of thousands of business pages that could be running contests. I’m curious to see year-over-year numbers and see how it trends compared to the year-over-year growth of Facebook’s business membership.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003899663887 Nikki Ray

Thank you for this much needed info Jim! I’m very interested in seeing more articles relating to this.

ahariri

Thanks for this much helpful article. I find it odd that Facebook doesn’t offer a channel for us to inquire to make sure whether a contest is against it’s rules or not. I run a not-for-profit Facebook research page with over 200k fans, the cost of running such contest on many of the well known app developers is enormous and I can’t even think of paying for it. On the other, if you develop a contest yourself, you will risk getting banned and losing everything, just because FB can’t get heads straight and offer some help here.

ahariri

I forgot to say I would appreciate any feedback on good apps to use that won’t cost a fortune. Most of what I’ve came across are based on the page fans number rather than the number of entries.

http://www.SocialAna.com/ Ana Lucia Novak

I love Short Stack and use this tool!

Devon

Very helpful!! I have a question – does using my blog count as a third party? I am planning on a photo contest where they submit the photos via my blog but then voting is by FB Like. Can you do that? Thank you!

saumil

Superb !

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About Amy

Amy is a social media strategist and co-author of Facebook Marketing All-In-One for Dummies. She helps entrepreneurs across industries establish strategies to maximize the power of social media and increase the success of their online marketing efforts.